Current Affairs, News & Facts of 07 Mar 2016

Mar 07, 2016Comments (0)

India kicks off Raisina Dialogue 2016 at New Delhi

The inaugural session of Raisina-Dialogue 2016, envisioned to be India's flagship conference of geopolitics and geo-economics had began in New Delhi. It is a three day conference held jointly by Ministry of External Affairs, India and the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), an independent think tank based in India.

The inaugural dialogue was hosted between March 1st and 3rd, 2016 in New Delhi. It was attended by speakers from 40 countries including Former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and Bangladeshi foreign Minister Mahmood Ali.

The conference is being seen as the government’s attempt to rival conferences around the world such as the Shangri-La dialogue in Singapore, and the Munich Conference on national security.

The conference focussed on Asia's physical, economic, human, and digital connectivity and will attempt to discover opportunities and challenges for the region to manage its common spaces. It will provide platform to explore prospects and opportunities for Asian integration as well as Asia’s Integration with the whole world.

Raisina-Dialogue :The conference name comes from Raisina Hill, the elevation in New Delhi, which is the location of both the Government of India as well as the presidential palace of India, Rashtrapati Bhavan, which inspired the design of the conference symbol.

India has filed a complaint in the WTO against the US decision to impose high fees on temporary working visas, which would impact Indian IT professionals as it makes Indian IT companies less competitive in that market.

The current measures imposed by US appear to be "inconsistent" with the terms, limitations and conditions agreed by the US in its commitments under the GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services).

Dispute settlement procedure:

The request for consultations is the first step in a dispute at the dispute settlement system of the WTO as consultations give the parties an opportunity to discuss the matter and to find a satisfactory solution without proceeding further with litigation.

If consultations fail to resolve the dispute, the complainant may request the Dispute Settlement Body to establish a panel of experts to study the dispute. The US has 10 days to respond to the trade dispute filed by India.

Background :

Last year, US President Barack Obama had signed into law a US $1.8 trillion spending package which among other things introduces a hefty US $4,000 fee for certain categories of H-1B visa and US $4,500 for L1 visa.

Under this law, companies having more than 50 employees and having more than 50 per cent of their US employees on H-1B and L1 visas were forced pay the new fee from April 1, 2016. H-1B and L1 visas are temporary work visas for skilled IT professionals to work in US and India is the largest user of both H1B and L1 visas.

President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurates conference regarding the role of women legislators

President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated a national conference on 'Women Legislators: Building Resurgent India' in New Delhi. The conference, intends to hone the skills of legislators to perform their legislative and non-legislative roles with greater effectiveness.

Facts about the conference :

The two-day conference will provide women legislators a platform to interact with their counterparts from across the country as also women union ministers, chief ministers, MPs and eminent women from the judiciary and the bureaucracy.

The conference is likely to be attended by more than 300 women members of Parliament and state legislatures and legislative councils, union ministers and chief ministers.

The conference will equip women legislators with latest knowledge in relevant areas and motivate and guide them in their twin roles as legislators and as agents of socio-economic progress.

Uttar Pradesh Assembly has passed UP Revenue Code (Amendment) Bill 2016, replacing an ordinance that will allow Dalits to sell their land to non-Dalits in the state. The bill allows Dalits to sell their land to non-Dalits without approval of the administration even if they are left with less than 3.5 acre of land.

To safeguard land ownership of Dalits and protect them from being forced to sell their land to upper caste persons, the existing land revenue laws did not allow them to sell their land to OBCs and Upper Castes if their remaining land was less than 3.5 acres but now Dalits would be able to sell their land to non-Dalits without the approval of the administration.

Key provisions :

The bill ensures speedy jusicial procedure for land revenue disputes so under the new law, Revenue Officer (Judicial) will be appointed to adjudicate all land related cases.

The bill ensures that even women gets equal rights of land ownership so in the land record of each owner, the share of the each land holder like wife, unmarried daughter etc will be mentioned.

The bill also has provision that allows land owners lease out their land for share-cropping purpose without the fear of losing it after 12 years.

India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) is among four new foreign banks given preliminary approval to open 100 per cent-owned branches in Myanmar.

Other Asian banks are Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, Sun Commercial Bank of Taiwan and Shinhan Bank of South Korea.

Now with this approval the total number of foreign banks allowed to conduct business inside Myanmar is 13. In late 2014 licenses were granted to nine foreign banks, also all from Asian countries.

Myanmar is home to 24 private local banks and four state owned banks. In April last year, Japan's Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ became the first foreign bank in decades to open a branch in Myanmar.

The approval gives the banks 12 months to demonstrate that they can fulfill business plans laid out in their application to Myanmar's government, if the government would be satisfied than only they will be granted permanent licenses.

Myanmar's powerful military nationalised all banks when it seized power in 1962 but since 2011 after end a half-century of harsh military rule, Myanmar has launched political and economic reforms, prompting the West to lift most of the sanctions and enhance capital flow to spur investment and promote economic growth.

The Patna Pirates lifted their maiden Pro Kabaddi League by defeating U Mumba with a score of (31-28) after a thrilling 40-minute play in the final match played at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, New Delhi. Patna Pirates team is owned by Rajesh Shah and play their home matches at the Patliputra Sports Complex, Patna.

Manpreet Singh : Captain of Patna Pirates.

Anup Kumar : Captain of U Mumba.

Key highlights :

(1) Rohit Kumar of Patna Pirates was awarded Best Raider .(2) Mohit Chillar of U Mumba the Best Defender of the Match.(3) Rishank Devadiga of U Mumba finished as the most successful raider with 106 points. (4) Puneri Paltan was placed at the third place after defeating Bengal Warriors.

Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) :

The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) is a professional kabaddi league in India, based on the format of the Indian Premier League T20 cricket tournament. It is known as the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi for sponsorship reasons. The first edition of the tournament was played in 2014 with eight franchises representing various cities in India. It was won by Jaipur Pink.

India has won the 13th edition of the Asia Cup by defeating Bangladesh by 8 wickets in the final match played at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur, Bangladesh. India has won Asia Cup for a record sixth time.

Asia Cup, 2016, was the 13th edition of the Asia Cup, the fifth to be held in Bangladesh, and the first to be played using the T20 format.

In 13th edition of Asia Cup 4 teams had participated including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates who qualified from a qualifier played from 19 to 22 February, 2016. India has won Asia cup for 6 times, Sri Lanka for 5 times while Pakistan has won the Match twice.

Twist in the match

In the final match Bangladesh by batting first posted the target of 120 runs for five wickets in 15 overs to India. The match was reduced to 15-over-per side due to rain.

Chasing down S Dhawan did really well and scored 60 runs of 44 balls while Kohli scored 41 off 28 balls but the twist in the match came when Bangladesh dismiss Shikhar Dhawan with India still needing 22 runs from 14 balls.

After Dhawan got out, M.S. Dhoni took the ground and finished the match in grand style. M.S. Dhoni scored 20 off just 6 balls with 1 four and two huge sixes.

Man of the Match: Shikhar Dhawan. Man of the series: Sabbir Rahman (Bangladesh). Most runs in the series: Sabbir Rahman (176) of Bangladesh. Most wickets in the series: Al-Amin Hossain (11) of Bangladesh.Captain of India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni.Captain of Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza.

Renowned Dogri poetess and writer Padma Sachdev has been awarded Krutitava Smagra Samman for the year 2015. The award was given by Bharatiya's Bhasha Parishad in Kolkata for her outstanding contribution in literature and great service to Dogri Language. The award was presented to her by West Bengal Governor Sh. Keshari Nath Tripathi. The award carries an amount of Rs. one lakh, a shawl and citation.

About Padma Sachdev

Padma Sachdev born in 1940 in Jammu, is the first modern woman poet of Dogri language. She also writes in Hindi. She has published her several poetry collection including Tavi Te Chanhan (1976), Nheriyan Galiyan (1982), Pota Pota Nimbal (1987), Uttar Vahini (1992) and Tainthian (1992).

Awards and Honours : She was honoured with Sahitya Akademi Award in 1971 for her poetry collection Meri Kavita Mere Geet (My Poems, My Songs) . She has also received the Padma Shri, the Indian fourth highest civilian award in 2001 and Kabir Samman for poetry for the year 2007-08 by Government of Madhya Pradesh.

About Dogri language

Dogri is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about five million people in India and Pakistan. In India it is mainly spoken in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh and some parts of northern Punjab. Dogri speakers are called Dogras, and the Dogri-speaking region is called Duggar

Dogri is one of 22 official languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of Constitution. Along with Maithili, Santali and Bodo it was inserted in Eighth Schedule by 92nd Constitutional amendment Act, 2003.

A new species of burrowing snake named Melanophidium Khairei or Khaire’s Black Shieldtail of the genus melanophidium has been discovered from the Northwestern Ghats and correctly identified after a gap of 144 years.

The snake has been named after Neelimkumar Khaire, the legendary founder of Pune based Katraj Snake Park and Indian Herpetological Society.

The snake belong to family Uropeltidae, which comprises all species which are burrowers and live mostly underground. It is found in evergreen forests but rarely above ground in southern Maharashtra, Goa and northern Karnataka.

The discovery is the result of meticulous efforts of last 15 years by David Gower of Natural History Museum, London and his colleague Mark Wilkinson, Giri, Ashok Captain of Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai and Indian Herpetological Society, Pune.

New snake species discovered in Gujarat

Two researchers from Mumbai and three others from Gujarat have confirmed the discovery of a new snake species named Wallaceophis gujaratensis. The new snake genus, Wallaceophis is named after Alfred Russel Wallace for his pioneering work on biogeography, and for co-discovering the theory of natural selection.

Based on scalation, tooth number, bone morphology and DNA, the snake was identified as belonging to a group of colubrid snakes that include racers, royal snakes and whip snakes. There are more than 1,800 species of Colubrid snakes across the world.

Latest Tidbids

There is a difference of 25 per cent in workforce participation rate of men and women worldwide but in India it is up to 40 per cent.

International Labour Organisation (ILO) Director General Guy Ryder has expressed concerns over the widening gender gap in workforce in India.

ILO will work with the government in its labour reform process by bringing in international experience and setting international labour standards. The reforms would probably bridge the gap of gender gap in workforce in India.

India does poorly in comparison to its neighbours despite a more robust economic growth. In 2015, women comprised of 43% of the labour force in Bangladesh,

The rate has also increased in Pakistan, while participation has remained relatively stable in Sri Lanka. Myanmar with 79% and Malaysia with 49% are also way ahead of India.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the second anti-drug Working Group meeting of Heads of Drug Control Agencies of BRICS in New Delhi to discuss issues related to narco-terrorism and money laundering. The meeting is being organized by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

BRICS drug control meeting 2016 :

The delegates from the member countries of BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) and the Ambassadors of the respective countries will participate in the meeting.

The Directors General of Border Guarding Forces and the Paramilitary will also attend the inaugural session along with the heads of the Intelligence and Investigative Agencies like the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The Indian delegation shall be headed by Shri Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Director General, Narcotics Control Bureau and shall comprise of officers from the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Health and Family welfare and Narcotics Control Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs.

Background :

The anti-drug working group meeting of heads of anti-narcotics agencies has been organised by India in accordance with the ‘eThekwani Declaration’ adopted during the BRICS summit in March 2013 at Durban, South Africa where it was decided that the heads of anti-drug agencies of the five member countries may meet regularly under the aegis of the BRICS anti-drug working group meeting. In keeping with the spirit of the eThekwani Declaration, the first anti-drug working group meeting of BRICS countries was organized at Moscow, Russia in November, 2015.

Jul 07, 2016Cabinet approves setting up a Major port at Enayam near Colachel in Tamil Nadu

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its 'in-principle' approval for setting up a Major port at Enayam near Colachel in Tamil Nadu.

Background : At present, there are only a few ports in India that have sufficient draft and can match global cargo handling efficiencies. Currently, all of India's trans-shipment traffic gets handled in Colombo, Singapore and other international ports. Indian port industry loses out upto Rs 1,500 Crores of revenues each year.

Significance of Enayam port :

Establishing this Major port at Enayam will not only act as a major gateway container port for Indian cargo that is presently trans-shipped outside the country, but also become a trans-shipment hub for the global East-West trade route.

Enayam will also reduce the logistics cost for exporters and importers in South India who currently depend on trans-shipment in Colombo or other ports thus incurring additional port handling charges.

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